Ask us anything on Florida's upcoming hurricane season! Join our upcoming Reddit AMA
We're hosting an "Ask Me Anything" (AMA) on Reddit to answer questions about preparing for hurricane season 2025.
Our team of journalists/weather nerds wants you to be ready and informed. Find us on r/florida to ask us anything.
Meet our AMA moderators — Dr. Ryan Truchelut, Anne Geggis, and Antonio Fins — below.
Ryan Truchelut (aka WeatherTiger) is a Tallahassee-based meteorologist who partners with the USA TODAY NETWORK to provide expert tropical forecasting during the hurricane season. He's known for his sharp analysis and his witty pop culture references.
Most recent forecast: False alarms, beneficial rain and a dusty start to Florida storm season | WeatherTiger
Anne Geggis covers statewide insurance issues, bringing more than 30 years of reporting experience to this urgent issue. After starting her career in Vermont following graduation from St. Michael's College there, she's made stops in Daytona Beach, Gainesville and Fort Lauderdale. Anne has covered municipal government, health care and education. Anne is the current president of the Florida Press Club.
Don't understand insurance?: Here's what to know to keep a roof over your head
Antonio Fins is the politics and growth editor at the Palm Beach Post. His 30-year journalism career includes 16 years as a business writer and opinions editor for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and Florida and Caribbean news correspondent for Business Week magazine. One of Antonio's journalism and personal passions is the environment, especially the oceans and coastal regions. For three years, he guided the research and conservation programs at the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation.
More: Busier than average is the guidance on what to expect entering the 2025 hurricane season
Join us on r/florida on Thursday, June 12, starting at noon ET.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Reddit AMA: Florida hurricane season: Prepare now — ask us anything!
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
8 hours ago
- USA Today
'Prolonged impact': Canadian wildfires prompt air quality warnings for Midwest, Northeast
Forecasters say relatively weak winds have left Canadian wildfire smoke to linger over the U.S. Stronger winds are expected to bring relief later in the week. Wildfires burning out of control in Canada are leaving a trail of smoke across the northern United States and prompting local authorities to issue health warnings for millions of people due to poor air quality. Blazes raging in the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba are creating poor conditions in the Midwest and Northeast, the National Weather Service said on Aug. 4. Officials from Minnesota to Maine have issued air quality alerts, according to the Storm Prediction Center. The impact from the fires isn't as dramatic as the wildfires of 2023 that left New York City blanketed in a moonglow orange. But weak winds have left the smoke to linger over the northern United States for days, said Dan Cornish, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Michigan. "We're definitely seeing prolonged impact, we've had several days of hazy skies," Cornish told USA TODAY, adding the horizon outside the weather service office in Gaylord, Michigan, has been a "milky gray" for days. "Unfortunately, that's just going to continue to deteriorate air quality across much of this area." Storm Prediction Center alert maps show blanket air quality warnings for the states of Michigan, Wisconsin, New York, and the New England region. Stronger winds aren't expected to blow the smoke until Aug. 6 or Aug. 7 for the Midwest, Cornish said. Conditions in the Northeast will likely improve by the end of the week, according to the forecaster. Authorities recommend limiting outdoor activity in the areas impacted by smoke from Canadian wildfires. Children, older adults, and people suffering from respiratory conditions, including asthma, are particularly vulnerable to the fine particulate matter small enough to be inhaled that is the toxic byproduct of wildfires, environmental officials warned. Where are the wildfires in Canada? The worst of the blazes impacting the United States are burning in the provinces of Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and western Ontario, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center. Most of the Canadian blazes are sparked by lightning in dry, remote forested areas that are difficult for firefighters to access except by aircraft, according to Cornish. "You get a lot of wildfires that can start up in those conditions, and it's a challenge but that's the nature of it, quite literally," Cornish said. "There's nothing you can do to prevent it." What cities are the worst off? The blazes have catapulted major American and Canadian cities into the most polluted places in the world, according to a global air-quality index maintained by IQAir, a Swiss-based air quality monitoring company. Detroit, Minneapolis, and Toronto were among the top 11 most polluted cities in the world on the evening of Aug. 4, according to IQAir. New York City and Montreal were among the top 20 most polluted cities, according to the global index. See the map of Canadian wildfires Side effects of inhaling wildfire smoke Wildfire smoke can irritate one's eyes, nose, and throat and cause the following symptoms: Particulate matter (PM) is one of the main components of wildfire smoke, comprised of small particles of solids or liquids suspended in the air, USA TODAY previously reported. According to Yale Medicine, the particles can be 10 micrometers, PM 10, or as small as 2.5 micrometers, PM 2.5, which can easily pass through a person's usual defense mechanisms and can "penetrate deep into the lungs, where they can impair lung function, cause illnesses, such as bronchitis, and increase asthma attacks." The following is linked to exposure to the PM 2.5, according to Yale Medicine: Contributing: Julia Gomez
Chicago Tribune
a day ago
- Chicago Tribune
Smoke from Canadian wildfires brings unhealthy air to large swaths of the Midwest
Smoke from Canadian wildfires hovered over several Midwestern states Saturday, bringing warnings of unhealthy air for at least the third day. Air quality alerts were in effect in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, as well as eastern Nebraska and parts of Indiana and Illinois. Forecasters said the smoky skies would remain for much of the day. Canadian environmental officials said smoke from the forest fires would persist into Sunday for some areas. The Switzerland-based air quality monitoring database IQAir, which assesses air quality in real time, listed the city of Minneapolis as having some of the worst air pollution in the world since Friday. The Air Quality Index (AQI) was expected to reach the red or unhealthy category in a large swath of Minnesota. AQI is a system used to communicate how much air pollution is in the air. It breaks pollution down into six categories and colors, along with advice on what is and is not safe to do. They range from 'good' (the color green) to 'hazardous' (maroon). People with lung disease, heart disease, children, older adults and pregnant women are most susceptible to the poor breathing conditions. 'What's been unique in this go-around is that we've had this prolonged stretch of smoke particulates towards the surface, so that's where we've really had the air quality in the red here for the past few days,' said Joe Strus, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area in Minnesota. 'We've sort of been dealing with this, day in and day out, where you walk outside and you can taste the smoke, you can smell it,' Strus said. 'Sometimes we've been in higher concentrations than others. Other times it's just looked a little hazy out there.' The air was improving Saturday, he said, specifically across the Twin Cities and southwestern Minnesota, but state health officials warned that conditions could remain unhealthy for sensitive groups through Monday. Officials said the smoke could spread as far south as Tennessee and Missouri. The EPA's Air Quality Index converts all pollutant levels into a single number. The lower the number, the better. Anything below 50 is classified as 'healthy.' Fifty to 100 is 'moderate' while 100-150 is unhealthy for 'sensitive groups.' Anything above 150 is bad for everyone. Parts of Minnesota exceeded that number on Saturday. Health officials advise people with asthma and other lung disease, heart disease, children and older adults to avoid prolonged exposure to smoke and limit strenuous activities. They said to avoid burning things that could make the air pollution worse and to keep windows and doors closed. 'This is something that's become part of our summer here the last few years,' Strus said, 'and I think a lot of us are just looking forward to seeing a little more movement in the atmospheric winds and we'll be able to hopefully disperse some of the smoke out of here in the next few days.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Residents raise red flags as flood-stricken town teeters on edge of disaster: 'Had to use rain boots to walk around in my kitchen'
Residents raise red flags as flood-stricken town teeters on edge of disaster: 'Had to use rain boots to walk around in my kitchen' Rising sea levels are a major concern for many coastal communities, with widespread risks that can extend across vast regions and entire states. One example of an at-risk area is Pescadero, a small farming community on the California coast. What's happening? In Part 3 of a series on sea level rise from Bay Area-based public radio station KALW, an emergency and disaster preparedness reporter looked at how flooding is affecting an unincorporated town in San Mateo County. Although Pescadero's residents have been dealing with flooding for decades, as the mid-July audio episode demonstrates, the issue is worsening and highlighting disturbing socioeconomic divides. The town is situated on a floodplain, making its residents and businesses especially vulnerable. Home to large immigrant and agricultural communities, these populations can be disproportionately impacted. "Last January, the water was so high that I had to use rain boots to walk around in my kitchen," flower farmer Maria Juana Zavala Rizo shared. "I prepared dinner with my boots." Reporter Wren Farrell took a tour of the area with nonprofit leader Irma Rodriguez Mitton, whose organization is involved with community responses to climate change. Together, they observed some homes being raised off the ground to prevent future flooding. "If you're a property owner with means and you can raise your home. That's great. That's one home raised out of the floodplain," Rodriguez Mitton told KALW. "But the community isn't raised out of the floodplain." Why is this concerning? Marginalized communities can be disproportionately impacted by flooding and other extreme weather events. As flooding increases in frequency and intensity due to rising global temperatures, these communities can be repeatedly hit with dangerous conditions, life-changing home damage, and financial hardship. Dealing with these persistent worries can also take a toll on residents' mental well-being. Do you think your city has good air quality? Definitely Somewhat Depends on the time of year Not at all Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. With great emotion, farmer Zavala told KALW that river waters had "entered [her] home during the rainy season for the past 28 years." She attended a Board of Supervisors meeting in 2023 to tell local officials about the ongoing challenges, which have included disruptions to road access and emergency response times. "Since that meeting," the public radio station reported, Zavala's landlord "installed cinder block walls in the lower parts of the home to keep the water out." Her house doesn't flood anymore. What's being done to protect towns from flooding? In California, the Resource Conservation District is working with property owners to facilitate floodplain restoration and sediment management, according to KALW. Coordinated efforts are underway across multiple agencies to prepare for droughts, heavy storms, and rising sea levels. Meanwhile, innovators have been developing the concept of "sponge cities" to absorb rainwater with parks, gardens, and other natural infrastructure. These techniques are already being implemented in cities like Los Angeles and Pittsburgh to mitigate urban flood risks. Individuals can enhance their personal storm resilience by taking steps to disaster-proof their homes and generate grid-independent power from cleaner energy sources. Installing solar panels with backup battery storage can help homeowners withstand grid outages caused by extreme weather. When prospective customers compare installer quotes using EnergySage's free online tool, they can save up to $10,000 on the upfront costs of going solar — reducing, in the process, the heat-trapping gases that can drive rising global temperatures and exacerbate floods. Meanwhile, as the recent storytelling from Pescadero residents makes clear, officials and advocates must collaborate to ensure that not only homeowners but property owners in general are supported in taking local actions that protect all residents. That means landlords too must be expected to deploy effective solutions equitably. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
